The families of Olivia Hernández Pérez, 27, and her boyfriend Silvio René Garzón Molina, 36, have been anxiously awaiting news of the couple who went missing after the collapse of the Coral Park building in La Guaira, Venezuela. They were on the sixth floor when the catastrophic earthquakes struck on June 24.
The couple had arrived in Venezuela just a week prior to the disaster, on June 19, with tourist visas and the hope of escaping the suffocating crisis in their home country of Cuba.
"We haven't heard anything yet. All I want is for my son to be found. I just want to know about my son because I have a lot of faith," said Regla Molina, Silvio René's mother, capturing the profound distress that both families in Havana are experiencing.
Ailín Pérez López, Olivia's godmother, painted a stark picture of the building's condition: "We have photos from people who have shared them... it's completely destroyed, nothing remains."
Olivia, a psychologist, lived in Bahía de La Habana del Este with her mother, a doctor who is currently ill. Her mission was clear—work to bring her mother out of Cuba by the end of the year. "Godmother, I'm going ahead; I want to work before December, doing whatever it takes. I'm going to strive to bring my mom out," she said before boarding the plane.
Silvio René, from the Regla municipality in Havana, is a babalawo, a religious practitioner. "My son is religious, a babalawo; the opportunity for this tourist trip came up, and he took it," his mother explained. Although neither family has direct contacts in Venezuela, Silvio René's network of religious godchildren in the United States, Brazil, and Italy is trying to locate him from abroad.
Communication with the couple is currently impossible. Having been in the country for only a week, they hadn't secured local phone lines and relied solely on WhatsApp through Olivia's Cuban number, which remains silent. "We have no one there, we're desperate," lamented the godmother.
The families have also criticized the Cuban government's opaque response. While searches for Cubans in Venezuela continue, and citizen platforms document more than 30 missing persons with details, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed on Saturday to have no "official confirmation" of any Cubans being injured, deceased, or missing.
"They have published that they still have no knowledge of any missing Cubans; they haven't given any news. All they say is that the doctors, that the Cuban medical brigade is fine, which is what they care about," Pérez López harshly criticized.
Despite family testimonies, the regime insists there is no confirmation of affected Cubans. Díaz-Canel stated on Sunday that they are maintaining "permanent contact" with Venezuelan authorities and the embassy in Caracas.
The case of Olivia and Silvio René is part of a larger tragedy: the seismic event on June 24, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, is the most devastating recorded in Venezuela since 1900. The official death toll stands at 1,450, with more than 3,360 injured, while the UN estimates up to 50,000 missing across the country.
Olivia's godmother poignantly summarized the desperation that drove the young woman to leave: "Here, young people are truly desperate. Everyone supported her decision to leave because, honestly, anywhere is better than here."
Insights on the Missing Cuban Couple in Venezuela
What happened to Olivia Hernández Pérez and Silvio René Garzón Molina?
The couple went missing following the collapse of the Coral Park building in La Guaira, Venezuela, during a series of devastating earthquakes on June 24.
Why were Olivia and Silvio in Venezuela?
They traveled to Venezuela on tourist visas, seeking to escape the economic and social crisis in Cuba, with the hope of starting a new life and helping Olivia's mother relocate.
How are their families coping with the situation?
The families, based in Havana, are in anguish and have not received any information about the couple's whereabouts. They rely on religious networks and international contacts to seek information.